Editing Reading, Pennsylvania (section)

==History==
===18th century===
{{Further|Pennsylvania in the American Revolution}}
[[File:Reading Pennsylvania.jpg|thumb|The 500-block of Court Street in Downtown Reading with [[Berks County, Pennsylvania|Berks County]] courthouse on the left]]
[[File:Reading, Pennsylvania and its suburbs 1955.jpg|thumb|Part of Reading's urbanized area in 1950]]
[[File:Reading Downtown.jpg|right|thumb|Downtown Reading from Penn and 2nd streets]]
[[Lenape]] people, also known as Delaware Indians, inhabited the Reading area prior to European settlement of the region in the 17th century. The Colony of Pennsylvania was a 1680 land grant from King [[Charles II of England]] to [[William Penn]]. Comprising more than {{Convert|45,000|sqmi}}, it was named for his father, [[William Penn (Royal Navy officer)| William Penn]].

In 1743, Richard and Thomas Penn, both sons of William Penn, mapped out the town of Reading with [[Conrad Weiser]]. Taking its name from [[Reading, Berkshire]], England, the town was established in 1748. Upon the creation of Berks County in 1752, Reading became the county seat. The region was settled by emigrants from southern and western Germany, who bought land from the Penns. The first [[Amish]] community in the [[New World]] was established in Greater Reading, Berks County.<ref name="Readingberkspa.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.readingberkspa.com/content.asp?page=funfacts |title=content.aspGreater Reading's destination hub : Greater Reading Convention and Visitors Bureau |publisher=Readingberkspa.com |access-date=May 7, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323093905/http://www.readingberkspa.com/content.asp?page=funfacts |archive-date=March 23, 2012  }}</ref> The Pennsylvanian German dialect was spoken in the area well into the 1950s.

During the [[French and Indian War]], Reading was a military base for a chain of forts along the [[Blue Mountain (Pennsylvania)|Blue Mountain]].

[[James Wilson (Founding Father)|James Wilson]] practiced law in Reading from 1767 until 1775.

By the time of the [[American Revolution]], the area's iron industry had a total production exceeding England's. There were several prominent Ironmasters like [[Samuel Van Leer]] who helped supply [[George Washington]]'s troops with cannons, rifles, and ammunition in the Revolutionary War.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vanleerarchives.org/home/van-leer-american-line/samuel-van-leer/|title=Samuel Van Leer|access-date=November 24, 2021|archive-date=November 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211110022047/https://vanleerarchives.org/home/van-leer-american-line/samuel-van-leer/|url-status=dead}}</ref> During the early period of the conflict, Reading was again a depot for military supply. [[Hessian (soldiers)|Hessian]] prisoners from the [[Battle of Trenton]] were also detained here.

[[Philadelphia]] was the nation's capital at the time of the [[1793 Philadelphia yellow fever epidemic]].<ref>Washington, D.C. became the national capital in 1800.</ref> President [[George Washington]] traveled to Reading, and considered making it the emergency national capital, but chose [[Germantown, Philadelphia|Germantown]] instead.

===19th century===
{{See also|Pennsylvania in the American Civil War}}
In 1809, [[Susanna Cox]] was tried and convicted for infanticide in Reading. Her case attracted tremendous sympathy; 20,000 spectators came to view her hanging, swamping the 3,000 inhabitants.

According to census data, Reading was among the nation's most-populous 100 cities in the nation from 1810 to 1950.

The [[Schuylkill Canal]], a north–south canal completed in 1825, paralleled the [[Schuylkill River]] and connected Reading with Philadelphia and the [[Delaware River]]. The [[Union Canal (Pennsylvania)|Union Canal]], an east–west canal completed in 1828, connected the Schuylkill and [[Susquehanna River]]s, and ran from Reading to Middletown, Pennsylvania, a few miles south of [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania|Harrisburg]], the state capital. Railroads forced the abandonment of the canals by the 1880s.

Future Supreme Court Justice [[William Strong (Pennsylvania jurist)|William Strong]] lived and practiced law in Reading from 1832 to 1857.

The [[Philadelphia and Reading Railroad]] (P&R) was incorporated in 1833. During the [[Long Depression]] following the [[Panic of 1873]], a [[Great Railroad Strike of 1877|statewide railroad strike]] in 1877 over delayed wages led to a violent protest and clash with the National Guard in which six Reading men were killed.<ref>Zinn, Howard. ''A People's History of the United States 1492–present'' (New York: HarperPerennial, 1995), p. 243.</ref> The [[Reading Brewing Company]] was also established around this same time, and was officially chartered in 1886.<ref>"[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50499491/reading-brewing-co-startup-8101886/ Reading Brewing Company: Permanent Organization Effected Last Night]." Reading, Pennsylvania: ''The Reading Times'', August 10, 1886, front page.</ref>

The [[Charles Evans Cemetery]] is the non-sectarian cemetery where many of the city's prominent business and community leaders have been buried since the cemetery's opening in the 1840s. Established through the donation of land by Reading attorney and philanthropist Charles Evans and a subsequent financial endowment upon his death in 1847, which provided for future improvements to the grounds,<ref>"[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=18850428&id=xk4lAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Z-EFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2126,4125844&hl=en 'Cities of the Dead': The Improvements Being Made in the Cemeteries of Reading.]" Reading, Pennsylvania: ''Reading Eagle'', April 29, 1885, p. 1.</ref> the cemetery became a primary gathering point for annual Memorial Day activities from the late 19th through the late 20th centuries due to the presence of the [[Grand Army of the Republic]] monument, which was dedicated there in 1887.<ref>Homan, Wayne E. "[http://www.berkshistory.org/multimedia/articles/gar-monument/ The Poignant History of the GAR Monument]", in ''The Historical Review of Berks County'', Fall 2004. Reading, Pennsylvania: Berks History Center, retrieved online August 23, 2018.</ref><ref>"[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19150528&id=84wtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=AZ0FAAAAIBAJ&pg=2064,3878545 Charles Evans Cemetery Memorial Day Services]". Reading, Pennsylvania: ''Reading Eagle'', May 28, 1915.</ref><ref>"[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19310531&id=eckxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Y-IFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1894,5856040 Memorial Day Rites Held at Graves of Hero Dead]". Reading, Pennsylvania: ''Reading Eagle'', May 31, 1931, p. 1.</ref><ref>"[http://www.wfmz.com/news/national/former-pow-jim-delong-speaks-at-readings-memorial-day-ceremony/18905323 Former POW Jim DeLong speaks at Reading's Memorial Day ceremony] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180824101857/http://www.wfmz.com/news/national/former-pow-jim-delong-speaks-at-readings-memorial-day-ceremony/18905323 |date=August 24, 2018 }}". Allentown and Reading, Pennsylvania: WFMZ-TV, May 27, 2013.</ref>

===20th century===
[[File:ReadingPAKodachrome1983.jpg|thumb|A [[Kodachrome]] slide of Reading developed in May 1983]]
In the early 20th century, the city participated in the burgeoning automobile and motorcycle industry as home to the pioneer [[Brass era|"Brass Era"]] companies, [[Daniels Motor Company]], [[Duryea Motor Wagon Company]], and Reading-Standard Company.<ref>Clymer, Floyd. ''Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877–1925'' (New York: Bonanza Books, 1950), p.158.</ref>

Reading experienced continuous growth until the 1930s, when its population reached nearly 120,000. From the 1940s to the 1970s, however, the city saw a sharp downturn in prosperity, largely owing to the decline of the heavy industry and railroads, on which Reading had been built, and a national trend of urban decline.

Following more than a century of prosperity, the Reading Company was forced to file for bankruptcy protection in 1971. The bankruptcy was a result of dwindling coal shipping revenues and strict government regulations that denied railroads the ability to set competitive prices, required high taxes, and forced the railroads to continue to operate money-losing passenger service lines. On April 1, 1976, the Reading Company sold its current railroad interests to the newly formed Consolidated Railroad Corporation ([[Conrail]]). That same month, the Reading Brewing Company closed.<ref>"Reading Brewing Co. Will Close April 15." Reading, Pennsylvania: ''The Reading Eagle'', April 2, 1976.</ref>
In 1972, [[Hurricane Agnes]] caused extensive flooding in the city, not the last time the lower precincts of Reading were inundated by the [[Schuylkill River]]. A similar, though not as devastating, [[Mid-Atlantic United States flood of 2006|flood]] occurred during June 2006.

===21st century===
In December 2007, [[NBC]]'s ''[[Today (NBC program)|Today]]'' show featured Reading as one of the top four "Up and Coming Neighborhoods" in the U.S. as showing potential for a real estate boom.<ref>Interview with [[Barbara Corcoran]] on [[NBC]]'s ''[[Today (NBC program)|Today]]'' show. [http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-US&brand=msnbc&vid=71e0105d-a691-4971-95cd-e3c75fc8035f Online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090814075253/http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-US&brand=msnbc&vid=71e0105d-a691-4971-95cd-e3c75fc8035f |date=August 14, 2009 }}. December 2007. Retrieved September 27, 2009.</ref> The interviewee, [[Barbara Corcoran]], chose the city by looking for areas of big change, renovations, cleanups of parks, waterfronts, and warehouses. Corcoran also noted Reading's proximity to [[Philadelphia]], New York City, and [[Northeast megalopolis|other cities]].